Head of sales and marketing Paul Whiston said there was
record-setting spending on both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

''It is not surprising to finish on such a high in December.
A lot of sectors have shown some strong spending patterns
through the month and many retailers will be very pleased
with the results,'' he said.

The area with the largest increase in spending was Gisborne
(9.9%), followed by Marlborough (9.4%) and Palmerston North
(9%). The least growth occurred on the West Coast (2.7%) and
in Wellington (3.3%).

There were 15.2% more credit card transactions last month
than in December 2012, and 4% more debit card transactions.

In Otago there were 4.89 million transactions last month, up
6.2% on the 4.61 million transactions in December 2012.